Introduction

In my previous article, "Accepting Bitcoin and Altcoin Payments for Merchants", I discussed how the use of #blockchain in micropayments will be able to reduce inefficiencies bringing cost savings to #merchants. Selection of the right #cryptocurrency to accept is extremely important, not all coins/tokens are optimised for the requirements of the micropayments.

@PIVX is a privacy-focused coin that addresses the stringent needs of the payment market. They are able to achieve this fine balance of privacy and verification providing both protection and efficiency to the #merchants and #consumers.

Let's step through the key consideration areas discussed in the previous article.

1) Scalability

@PIVX blockchain records an average of 3-4 transactions per block with plenty of expansion potential. PIVX has a block size of 2 MB. With a typical transaction size of around 0.2x kB (below), this allows PIVX #blockchain to be able to handle up to ~70 transactions per second.

PIVX's development team is also looking into Elastic Size blocks size (as stated in the roadmap) which will allows the blockchain to handle increased number of transactions during moments of peak transactions.

This development plan for elasticity and scalability not only allows more transactions to be sent on the blockchain but also prevents the size of the blockchain from getting too big at the early stage of user adoption.

To Merchants, this would mean faster initialisation and lesser RAM and storage requirements for a full node implementation instead of using a mobile wallet or other payment providers. There are also development plans for a lightweight desktop wallet.

2) Block Time for Confirmation

#PIVX Average Block Time is 60 seconds with a typical transaction requiring 6 confirmations on the network. Hence this would mean an average of 6 minutes for confirmation at the moment. There is also an option to use INSTANT sends (#SWIFTX) for immediate delivery.

This would mean purchases made Over The Counter (OTC) at a brick and mortar retailer would be extremely smooth and even faster than the settlement for credit card payments.

It typically takes a few days for the Credit Card issuing bank to re-emburse the funds to the crediting bank POS which in turn deposits it to the merchants account.

This makes #PIVX really applicable for micropayments.

3) Transactional Fees

PIVX Blockchain does not experience the same traffic load that of the Bitcoin Blockchain. Hence all transactions could be processed with the recommended minimum mining fee (0.0001PIV / kB).

This means that a typical PIVX transaction would cost less than 0.01 cent! #Private sends are 0.01-0.06 cents on average. This is even lower than the fees that a typical retailer would require to accept FIAT.

Do note that even bank charges merchants for coin and notes changing services as well as maintaining a corporate account.

4) Divisibility

#PIVX is currently 6 USD each PIV with a divisibility of 8 decimal points. This means that even the smallest unit of PIV is worth 0.000006 cents.

This provides a lot of flexibility for Merchants for item or services pricing. The huge divisibility also ensures that the unit of PIV is future proof and is testament that #PIVX is a #undervalued coin which will appreciate overtime as a form of investment.

5) Support for Smart Contracts

PIVX blockchain was never designed as a platform to support smart contracts. #PIVX coin is more suitably treated as a store of value or as a utility coin which empowers the zerocoin protocol which enables private sending with zPIV.

The future of Blockchain was never envisioned to be one major blockchain ruling the market. It would comprise of several blockchains, each optimised for an individual set of functional requirements. These several blockchains will work in tandem. Hence a receipt of PIVX coins in an address would trigger a set of actions on other blockchains. This would not require the use of smart contracts on an individual platform but rather a standard communication protocol which allows for blockchains to communicate with each other.

6) UI and UX Optimised

#PIVX Developers are not only Best-in-Class at innovating on the blockchain feature level. They also pay particular attention to detail for UI and UX Design aspect for Ease of Use and a fantastic first user experience.

The Wallet is designed to be extremely user friendly. All of the essential wallet feature sets are easily available on the left panel of the waller (look below). #PIVX have recently redesigned the wallet layout in their latest 3.1.0.2 release. It looks very appealing to both new and seasoned users.

For the merchant staff, the ease of using and navigating the desktop wallet will minimises the learning cure required to operate the wallet. Furthermore, Tthe multi-signature transaction feature on the wallet adds an additional layer of security and authentication to all outgoing transactions from the wallet.

6) Governance

PIVX is very different from other Blockchain projects when it comes to governance. They operate on a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) Governance concept where there is no pure leader making major decisions but rather all proposals for strategy changes, funding and development direction are tabled to be voted upon every superblock (roughly every month). This ensures that there is consensus within the project.

One of the beauties of a DAO Governance setup is that it allows the community to participate in the development of the project. This is not limited to technical development but also marketing and business development activities. Community members are able to organise or participate in events and qualify for funding. Post 3.1.0.2 Wallet Release, one-sixth of all PIVX block mining rewards will be funnelled to the DAO for project development. This will ensure for continual project innovation and development.

The Big Differentiator: Privacy to Consumers

Besides being able to fulfil the most stringent requirements of the micro payments market, #PIVX is able to provide privacy to both the users and the merchants. This is all done via Zerocoin Protocol which the user will use to send zPIV over to the recipient who will receive it in form of PIV without any record of sender recorded on the blockchain.

This could be very applicable for charities or religious organisations whereby alot of donation contributors would prefer to remain anonymous for private reasons. While #Bitcoin doesn't allows this as all addresses are recorded on the ledger, #PIVX is specifically designed to protect the identity of the contributor.

Why PIVX?

#PIVX is one of the fastest growing coins in terms of market utilisation and user adoption globally. Its focus on fine balance of privacy and payment feature sets will only contribute more to faster global user adoption. #Merchants would need to also see the benefits of using PIVX as an early adopter.

#PIVX is currently listed on two top-tier crypto exchanges, Binanceand Bittrex. This is by no means an easy achievement. #PIVX also boast a direct exchange to FIAT currency (PIVX / South Korean Won) through Upbit Exchange based in Korea. This will ensure high liquidity and availability of the coin to be highly utilised in the market supporting Merchant and User adoption.

This will only get better. So why hesitate?

Start accepting PIVX now!

— @yeesypeasy

$PIVX Donations: DPW4Ep9Ewdfo7zxPVo5cum7CSacWva1yRY

$BTC Donations: 3BymqCeVec5spPPZX2cWcNf4e6baDpqKhW